THE buoyant property market of the past six months has attracted not just buyers, but also mid-career professionals who have made the switch to become property agents.

Industry watchers said there are about 26,000 housing agents here, and the number could hit 40,000 if the positive market sentiment continues. During the lull last year, there were fewer than 20,000.

ERA Asia-Pacific had 45 per cent more new hires in the first half of this year, compared to a year ago. PropNex is getting about 200 new agents a month, compared to 165 during the 2007 boom.

One pull factor is the higher commissions from private property sales as property prices continue to climb.

ERA Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim said: “If they do property sales, an average per month is currently about $6,000 to $7,000. For private property rental, which some new people start off with, you can get average of $3,000 to $4,000 for a deal.

“The slightly more experienced ones will have higher volume … It’s not uncommon to see a top producer in the company doing in the region of $50,000 to $100,000 a month.”

PropNex Realty’s CEO Mohamed Ismail cited the example of an agent who was a Singapore Airlines crew member for 19 years. Concerned about being retrenched, she attended Prop Nex’s courses earlier this year, and started work at the end of May. “In the last 2.5 months, she closed transactions worth about $87,000,” said Mr Mohamed.

Property agencies said they are also seeing more professionals with postgraduate qualifications joining the industry.

Said Mr Lim: “In 2007, when the country had full employment and market was surging, we attracted people with short-term perspectives. This time, we are attracting quite a number of people who are higher qualified, making a mid-career switch. So, they tend to be diploma or degree holders. Some even hold masters degrees.”

Property sales are on the rise: Transactions of HDB resale flats were up 50 per cent in the second quarter, while the number of new private homes sold in Q2 was more than the total figure last year.

But in a boom period, agencies also advise homebuyers to be cautious of rogue agents.

“In any business, there will always be rogues. This will tend to increase when the transaction volume increase and also when the market is going up,” said Mr Lim.

*disclaimer, just a random flyer distributing company in Singapore, we're not connected to them*

a HDB block worth of distributing is about $1 SGD, distributing 50 block to save $50 is not an easy task.

SG FLYER KING Pte Ltd is an established marketing company who specializes in helping SIngapore small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) radically increase their sales with our various forms of flyers distribution and marketing services.

We are one of the largest Professional Flyers Distribution Companiesin Singapore. Our company distributes as much as 100,000 copies of leaflets or flyers per day. SG Flyer King covers large distribution areas ranging from Jurong, Woodlands, Yishun, Serangoon, Punggol, Bishan, Pasir Ris, Tampines to as far as Tuas. All our distribution staff are full time, well trained and are familiar with names of all the roads and streets of all the commercial and residential areas.